Reputation... is it worth it?

[Paul]

Paul, we look forward to a review and photos!

And did you also go with the local maker, too?

I didn't actually. I found that the price she initially gave was for teflon coated non-pure wool and a pure wool kilt was a lot more expensive... therefore I felt misled and looked elsewhere for a kilt.
HoS kilt was decent - I'll get a review up and pictures up after I look over some other peoples to guide me into saying the right things and explaining things enough. Cheers for reminding me too

[Carolina Kiltman]

If I understand you correctly, you personally know that the kiltmaker in question can make what you want for less than Scotweb or Heritage of Scotland, and it will be a quality kilt. If that is correct, by all means get the less expensive kilt. From what I've read of Scotweb, their kilts are certainly worth the price that is paid for them, but I don't think that Nick and crew would begrudge you buying a less expensive kilt from someone you know personally.

Okay, I'm not being absolutely clear here. If quality is verifiably equal, I should think that no, reputation would not be worth it. Besides that, there isn't anything to stop you from getting a kilt from Scotweb or someone else later.

I agree totally. There is also the fact that she (presumably) buys the tartan at a discount, and sells the product directly to the end user. Scotweb, et al. buy from others and have to mark up the merchandise to cover their overhead and make a profit(however slim) in the bargain. Edit: I should have read to the end of the thread. mea culpa that she was quoting something other than pure wool certainly would be a major factor. As an aside, teflon coating is not a bad thing in and of itself, it is a fine stain repellent and doesn't generally detract from the hand of the fabric.